Seoul Day 3 - Skiing Day trip & Noryangjin Fish Market

On Day 3, we woke up bleary-eyed and tired. I booked a skiing day trip and the driver was gonna pick us up at 7am. He was very punctual and when we boarded the van, we realised we were his first stop, so he had to drive us around and pick up the others from other hotels around Seoul. After a while, he made us alight and changed to a really big coach. In any case, our group was not very big, 9 Singaporeans (including us), 5 Australians, 5 Taiwanese.

The drive from Seoul to Jisan took about an hour. The hubs and I slept on the coach. Finally we were asked to alight at a shop where we got our skiing gear including jacket, pants, gloves, goggles. We could also leave our clothes (but bring our valuables along) in the shop. Sleds are available (FOC I think) as well.

When we got to Jisan Forest Resort, it was sooooo uber crowded.

Here we are!

These were the intermediate and expert slopes.

Check out the throngs of people on the beginner slope...-_-

Eating cheese ramen from their small eatery on a cold winter day when you're surrounded by snow was uber shiok! I rate this one of the few "shiokest" moments during this trip!

We stayed until about 4pm...this is the intermediate slope. Goodbye beautiful Jisan!

Our day trip was quite okay, just a little tiring because we had to wake up earlier and it was really crowded so even equipment rental (skis and snowboards) took quite some time. Our instructor speaks really good english and overall we were very happy with our experience. It costs KRW142,000 per person (inclusive of skiing gear, equipment, ski lift pass, transportation and ski training) which my Korean class teacher says is not expensive at all. 

Tip of the day: buy a cup noodle back to your hotel the night before your skiing trip and eat it in the morning because the next time you are going to eat is about 1pm.

This is the website of the agency I booked with. You can look at all their other packages. 

http://www.triptokorea.com

After returning our skis/skiing wear, the coach brought us back to our hotel. We were famished by then so onward to dinner!

We decided to head to Noryangjin Fish Market (or Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market) for dinner. The selection there was so extensive we had a fun time walking about and just oohing and aahing at all the seafood!

The hawkers would tout and all but they are not very pushy so don't need to feel obliged. The prices of the stalls are more or less the same. Haggling is allowed though. :)

Small, medium or large prawns?

A dozen oysters for KRW5,000 (about SGD$6)! 

This huge plate of salmon sashimi cost about SGD$20 only

We ordered some big prawns and 4 abalones (really cheap too!). So how this market works is that you just purchase your seafood from any stall on level 1, then after that make your way to any restaurant in level 2 to ask them to cook your seafood for you. They charge a nominal fee for towels, tissues, water and "cooking fee". It'll cost more if you order soju (alcohol).

We didn't explore the restaurants as we wanted to find a reliable one. Hwangje came highly recommended online so we went there instead. 

The restaurant, still crowded at 9pm. There were Koreans, Japanese, Hong Kong tourists and of course Singaporeans (us! *waves*) in the restaurant.

They mostly barbecue the seafood as it is fragrant and can retain the sweetness of the seafood too. So we barbecued our prawns and abalones. You can also order their octopus or fish stew which seemed popular among the patrons as well.

This was the highlight of our dinner and this creature didn't come cheap. It costs about SGD$100-$150. The hubs went down to buy it (we decided to buy it as an afterthought) so I am not sure of the price. Anyway after barbecuing the flesh was so juicy and succulent and sweet! If I ever go back and this is in season again I'd definitely order it!

Seoul Day 2 - Trickeye Museum, N Seoul Tower/N Grill, Korea Shooting Club

We promised ourselves before the trip that we wouldn't rush out of bed every morning. Instead, we wanted it to be as relaxing as possible. So everyday we woke up naturally （自然醒）. So after the tiring first day we had (coz of the midnight flight), finally on our second day in Seoul we felt refreshed and energized.

Upon stepping out of the hotel, the cold air just blasted into our faces. We hurriedly went to an Angels-in-Us-Coffee near our hotel for cafe mochas. After we bought our coffee, I spotted something opposite the road and squealed in excitement.

 PARIS BAGUETTE!!!!

I bought a salad and the hubs bought a sandwich.

Honestly Paris Baguette ain't cheap in Seoul either, contrary to whatever else others said. And the food wasn't very fantastic either. Maybe they are famous for their cakes? Just so happened that the branch we went to had no cakes. :(

After breakfast, our next stop, Trickeye Museum!

Trickeye Museum is relatively easy to find. What a lot of people failed to mention is that it is actually underground, like at Basement 2? Basement 1 is some Love Museum. Anyway as it was a Sunday and also near year end, it was really really crowded but not unpleasantly so. It just meant some waiting time for photo taking in the particular scene that you want.

I was worried the hubs would think it's a silly place as sometimes he likes to portray the "I am macho" image. Surprisingly he had as much fun as I did and we had a good laugh over the photos after. I would highly recommend Trickeye Museum to all tourists to Seoul. After all, it is fun, doesn't take up too much of your time and entrance costs only 7,500won, if I didn't recall wrongly. Also, there are lots of things to look at and eat around the area! 

Do print out their map or get your directions clear before setting off from your hotel though!

We actually walked around the area a bit before heading to Namsan Tower. In the morning, we asked our hotel's reception to help us book a dinner appointment. The first dinner seating is only available at 5.30pm and will end at around 7pm. 

Around 4pm, we were tired from walking around so we decided to go to Namsan Tower earlier to look around before dinner. We took a cab there and we were SO fortunate to have decided to go earlier, because Namsan Tower cannot be reached by cab (or it probably can but no one would go up!), you have to take a cable car up and the queue for that cable car was sooo long. 

When we reached the tower, it snowed! Both of us were so happy! Especially the hubs who was in such awe, like a little boy seeing Transformers for the first time or something to that effect haha. For the first time in our lives, we both knew what it was like to feel snowflakes falling onto our cheeks and to see snowflakes for the first time in our lives. It was such a wonderful experience. 

Anyway since it was 5.30pm when we got there, we took a few photos outside and immediately went to the restaurant. The restaurant is situated higher than the observatory. When we reached there, the waiter asked us whether we wanted to pay more for the window seat and since we probably wouldn't be going back, we said ok. The window seat costs about SGD$100 more and comes with complimentary sparkling wine and a chiffon cake.

 Window seat with a semi-circle couch that gives couples privacy between tables.

 The view from the top

 The table set up is so simple and cozy~!

Here comes the food! Some smoked salmon thing

 Another appetizer that had zucchini, brinjal and cheese. This was surprisingly good, considering I don't eat brinjal. I tried this anyway and it was nice!

 Some fish thing...lol sorry I know I suck at details but anyway the food is not bad lah!

 I know what this is! This is the hubs' octopus thing. We didn't like the vegetables that was on it...had a pungent smell

 This one I know! Mushroom cappucino!

 Finally our main course arrived! We could either choose a main course each or share a main course set for two. As we are both steak lovers, we decided to go for the steak set. The set comes with creamed spinach, potato gratin and some condiments. The steak that came were the Striploin, tenderloin and something else which I forgot. :D

The couple seat came with complimentary sparkling wine (one bottle) and a pretty chiffon cake!

Dessert was pretty ordinary, nothing to rave about. This was meringue something hahaha 

The sky turns dark really quick in winter, so the 5.30pm seating is really good coz it allows you to see Seoul in both day night mode. :)

I purchased this lock for about SGD$10 at N Seoul Tower souvenir shop. Well, I suppose you can bring your own lock as it'd probably be cheaper? :)

The lock came with a free marker pen (with N Seoul Tower on it no less), for you to inscribe your names and date and love on the lock forever~~~ 

I suppose a trip to N Seoul Tower would be incomplete without a trip to the wall of locks. Here, couples often "lock" their love here. So that's what we did! Although removing our gloves to lock it on the fence was tough as we were freezing and so were our fingers! Declaration of love at the risk of frostbite. -_-"

After N Seoul Tower, it was time for some serious action!

The hubs is a huge fan of gun shooting, so when I first found out that there's a shooting club in Myeongdong, I had to bring him there. It is really not cheap, 10 bullets for 40,000won and 25 bullets for 80,000won (buy 20 get 5 bullets free). 80,000 won was about SGD$100 but since this is not something we can do in Singapore, I thought should just make the hubs happy and let him play. There were lots of tourists (we met a Taiwanese couple and some Japanese tourists too).

So this is the hubs shooting, with the instructor by his side. There are a few different ranges to shoot I think there is 25m and 50m. Also, different kinds of targets. My favourite was the one with the bad guy and the hostage (pretty girl) haha so the shooter has to be careful not to shoot the hostage. 

Anyway the hubs really had fun and he brought back the targets as souvenirs. :)

We returned to the hotel early as we had to wake up at 6+am the next morning for our skiing trip!

Seoul Day 1 - Doulos Hotel

We arrived in Seoul on 28th December 2013, without his luggage! Airasia lost our luggage and you can be certain I will never fly Airasia again! In fact, I wouldn't recommend this airline for going to anywhere anymore. Also, if you're gonna check in your baggage, make sure you check in one that is old and weathered...less chances of it being stolen I guess. 

So the hubs had no winter wear as they were all in his luggage. Unfortunately for him, when we arrived in Seoul that day, it was minus 10 degrees. He had no choice but to go to 7-Eleven to buy some alcohol to warm himself up, while he waited inside the airport (near the entrance) for the airport bus, while I waited outside for the bus. Thankfully the bus had heater and he slept (we took a midnight flight) the entire bus ride to the hotel area. 

Our hotel was located at Jongno 3-ga area and when we alighted, right in front of us was a shop selling winter wear. The hubs immediately went in to buy a jacket. He was getting such strange stares for just wearing a t-shirt in -10 degrees! So he came out warm but we were hungry so we bought some roadside snacks which were piping hot! Then we went to look for our hotel.

Doulos Hotel is situated amongst the little alleys, but once you are more familiar with the area, it actually takes about 3-4 minutes to walk to the main road where the shops and subway are. Our hotel room, however, was quite tiny.

It didn't even have a proper wardrobe, nor a safe. The housekeeping was ok except that on our first day we found a box of mochis in between the 2 clean (?) towels. The window got jammed coz we were trying to open and close it. It was just as well we lost the hubs' luggage as there really wasn't much space for a second luggage.

The bathroom wasn't too bad though no bathtub.

However, having said all these, what Doulos Hotel lacked in room size or housekeeping, they more than made up for it with their service. The Front Desk is always friendly and helpful, with one of the guys named Michael speaking exceptionally good English, just that he called everyone Sir, including me. Anyway, I thought the hubs wouldn't like the hotel because it's too cramped but surprisingly he liked the location and said he would come back to this hotel again next time we visit Seoul.

The hotel is not as near Myeongdong as it seems though. We were tricked into walking there and perhaps it's because we weren't familiar with the roads so it seemed like we walked really far. 

En route to Myeongdong

Myeongdong was super crowded on a Saturday afternoon. There were throngs of people and lots of street foods. It was a pretty nice introduction to Seoul.

As it was winter, the sky turned dark really quick so by 5pm we thought it was time for dinner. We went to this Korean BBQ place.

I love that their restaurants (even their street foods actually) all provide tissue, or at least most lah. Sitting on the floor was quite fun! So you just take off all your winter wear and dump them on the space next to or behind you. 

Something that I've been craving to eat in Korea! Kimchi chigae! Or otherwise known as Kimchi soup with lots of meat, kimchi, tofu etc. This was especially yummy on a cold winter's night!

The barbecue was tantalizing and the meat was quite good! I feel that no matter which korean bbq restaurant you go to in Korea, they would have some sort of standard to meet so all are quite decent places! Love that this meal costs us KRW15,900 per person for the bbq buffet. Super worth it!

After this we were both so cold we decided to head back to the hotel...plus we were tired from the late night flight. 

Next up: Trickeye Museum, Namsan Tower & N Grill!

My Wedding Journey #8 - Actual Day Photographer

As mentioned in my previous posts, my photographer, Skye, was recommended to me by My Bridal Room's boss, Uncle Quek.

I did not get a chance to meet him prior to my wedding day. He did contact me a few days before that to ask me for my address, timing to reach etc.

On the actual day, he was punctual (I guess they have to be! It's others' big day!) and friendly. One thing I liked about Skye was that he was friendly, informal, casual and fun to have around. In addition, Skye is the ultimate expert on traditional Chinese customs. He knows exactly what to do, who to serve tea to first, the sequence of tea serving, and was always there to advise us while taking photos.

He was professional. It was not just me and the hubs who liked him, all the brothers and sisters commented that he is really good and did a great job. Granted, we have not seen the photos yet, but I feel that given his level of professionalism and his experience, there is no way he could have done a lousy job. :)

Once I have the photos from my actual day, will post them up!

My Wedding Journey #7 - My Make Up Artist

I am back from my honeymoon! Posts and pictures will be up another day!

Today, let me review my MUA. My MUA was Cecilia from My Bridal Room (local bridal studio). My friends knew the boss, Uncle Quek and he gave us a good bargain of Photographer + MUA for $1450. I will do a review on my photographer soon!

During the trial make up, Cecilia only did make up for me but didn't do my hair. But for my AD, she did a fantastic job for my hair. I love the hairstyles she created as well as the make up she did for me. It was pretty, simple and elegant (if I do say so myself).

I should post up some pics but my camera phone was lousy and does not do justice to her work. I will wait for my photographer to give me the photos before I upload anything. :) so stay tuned!

But for those of you who've already asked her to be your MUA, don't worry! This post is to assure you brides-to-be that you are in superb hands!